The Githyanki
The Githyanki The Githyanki are a race of humans that were enslaved epochs hence. The Mind Flayers bred them for cattle and thralls. Eventually they were bred to be an elite fighting race for Illithid conquest, by this time their forms had been drastically changed into the gaunt yellow forms they now possess. The Great leader Gith rallied the race in a rebellion against their Illithid masters. This Eternal Crusade continues to this day. During the great battles with the Illithid many amongst the Gith sought to conquer all worlds and races that could possibly ever enslave the Gith again. This lead to a schism and saw the sepeartion of those to be known as the Githzerai whom left for the Elemental Chaos. Animosity and outright war continue between the two peoples to this day. Beyond their mutual hatred for one another, the Gith peoples developed a powerful bond amongst their relative kinds, and while there are often political struggles between factions, and sometimes a casualty of intrigue, the Githyanki never raise arms against one another. This is probably a societal remnant of the solidarity necessary to overthrow their Illithid masters. The hero Gith’s strategy for destroying the Mind Flayers was to establish a base in the Astral Sea, Make a powerful Alliance, and create a powerful weapon. Thus came the threefold powers of the Githyanki; their great city of Tu’narath upon the floating corpse of a dead god, their ancient pact with the red dragons, and their silver swords. Gith disappeared around the time of the red dragon pact, and then her greatest advisor Vlaakith took command of the race. The current Vlaakith is a descendent of this advisor, and, ages hence, sought the power of lichdom to prlong her rule. She has amassed enormous power in the thousands of years of her reign and is considered one of the multiverse’s truly awesome figures. Class, Faction, and Theme: The Githyanki are a race of soldiers and pirates. Their values are skewed toward the material and indeed a Githyanki would likely spend more time and concern on their weapons and armor than upon their mate. Githyanki adore gems and a baroque style. Their armor and weapons are elaborate and gem encrusted affairs, even to the extent that other races’ aesthetic would consider them gaudy. Their inclination towards Martial Classes is well known, the Githyanki Knights are a formidable force and are made up of fighters, warlords, rogues, and the like. Their knack for psionics is well documented and they have lengthy traditions of all the psionic classes save for monks, that particular tradition is associated with the Githzerai. Githyanki are also known to be adept at Arcane classes, and have used magic for some time. Primal classes are less known to the Githyanki, and amongst them only the Barbarian is common enough to bear mention. What follows is a list of the disparate factions of Githyanki society, a list of the suggested character themes for starting characters (these are not yet uploaded to the character builder and will be dealt with in character gen or at the table, just let me know which faction and theme your character has), all of which follow the unique rank system of the Githyanki: Queen Vlaakith CLVII Captain-General Osyrimon The Supreme Leaders Captain Knight Warlock Sergeant “Gish” Lesser Githyanki Hr’a’cknir, Mlar Least Githyanki G”lathk Ghustil: While the Githyanki as a race are contemptuous of the Gods, some githyanki whom can channel the nascent divine power of the astral are considered a priest caste who are in service to the lich-queen Vlaakith. This faction is good for all divine classes. Mlar: artisans, craftsmen, and specialists. This caste is appropriate for artificers, some wizards, assassins (shadow or executioner), or rogue. Indeed this is a useful caste for those who wish to play “lower class” as is the G”lathk. Hr’a’cknir: collecters of strange energies of the astral plane for use in crafts and architecture. Technically a more specialized caste, also appropriate for artificers. G”lathk: farmers and laborers. The Far Travelers: Githyanki nomads/pirates that broke off from T’narath long ago. The Far Travelers have smatterings of all the classes, save for the divine, even the primal classes can be seen amongst the Far Travelers, though druids and shamans might be a bit of a stretch, Barbarians fit right in amongst these pirates. All of the Martial and Arcane classes are particularly suited for the nomads. Monks are rare, but Battleminds, Psions, and Ardents are all very common. Gul’othran: Destroyers of the Illithid. Appropriate for all classes, but especially Executioner Assassins, Cavaliers, Fighers, Avengers, and Warlords. Marauders: Sect of the Gul’othran devoted to the “Eternal Crusade” against the Mind Flayers which makes incursions even into the Far Realm itself. Dragon Raiders: Members of the Gul’othran who’ve taken Red Dragon mounts in accordance with the ancient pact between the Red Dragons and Githyanki. Often the Dragon raiders act as field captains in Githyanki incursions. Ch’r’ai: Inquisitors. Rogues, Divine Classes, some Arcane, all the Psionic Classes (except monk) Duthka’gith: Dragon-Githyanki hybrids. Not really player appropriate. Blackweaves: Warlocks who’ve mad a pact with the Lich-Queen. Pyroclasts: Githyanki psions favoring pyrokinetic attacks. Psionic classes. Sword Stalkers: Githyanki Knights specialized at retrieving the sacred silver swords from non-githyanki. Almost all the classes can become Sword Stalkers, though Weapon and armor proficiencies are recommended. These Knights are a powerful faction if a small one. Tu’narathi Dragon Riders: These dragon riders are committed to the protection of the ancient city of Tu’narath (build upon the corpse of a long dead god. They travel deep into the cities caverns to make pacts with their mounts. Bonded to their dragons the Tu’narath are known throughout the multiverse as some of the greatest air calvary. The Cavalier is especially suited for this position, though other classes might suit it well.